


beewitched //

by akumatised (emeraldine)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bee Miraculous, Bee!Chloe, But it's there, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, I think? ish, Identity Reveal, Secret Identity, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, basically sabrina's a genius, chlobee, not much angst, sort of lmao, wingwoman!sabrina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 16:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8899291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldine/pseuds/akumatised
Summary: When Chloe Bourgeois decides to turn her life around, well, it gets people's attention. She becomes the talk of the town, in a way she'd never achieved before, despite all her attempts, and more people are taking interest in her than ever before. But she's waiting for the right guy, sure she'll know when she finds him.Sabrina's of the opinion that he's right under her nose, if she'll only see him in a different light.Thus, a plan is hatched.((essentially the fluffiest chlothanael oneshot you've ever read))





	

It was a widely known but very rarely acknowledged fact among the students at College Francois Dupont that Chloé Bourgeois had changed.

She'd done her best to make it a gradual thing, of course; there was no way people wouldn't get suspicious if she of all people started being nice to them right around the time of superheroine Queen Bee's debut. To be completely honest, she was somewhat surprised no one had figured it out anyway in the two or three months that it had been since; she and her superhero alter ego looked exactly the same. Like, _exactly the same_ . The only difference she'd noticed between them physically was that her suited counterpart lacked her trademark blue eyeshadow- disappointing, yet forgivable. The neutral look was beginning to grow on her, anyway.

But the fact that she as a person was beginning to change was definitely noticeable. If she could have it her way and safety wasn't an issue, she'd tell all of Paris- or even the whole world- that she, Chloé Bourgeois, had been chosen to be a superhero. And not just any hero, but the Queen Bee. The name made her practically giddy! But, unfortunately, secret identities were made to be kept secret, so she'd chosen to simply reflect a hero's good heart while out of the suit as well as in it. At least, she said it was a choice; but truthfully she put it down to the influence of her team. Apparently kindness is contagious. Who knew, right? Anyway, Ladybug had told her that if she did that, it would earn her exactly the same respect and admiration.

And Chloé had to (reluctantly) admit, Ladybug was right. Sure, she'd always had attention before; it wasn't hard to find when your father was mayor and you were richer than most people your age could hope to be, but she wasn't blind. She knew, despite all her claims to the contrary, that the attention she'd gotten before was mostly negative. That fact had taken her a while to come to terms with. But the influences of Ladybug, Adrien and her kwami, Hunni, had helped her to see the error of her ways, and the new Chloé Bourgeois certainly didn't attract negative press. In fact, she was pretty sure she'd gotten asked out more times this month than she ever had in her life! Which was flattering, but... uncomfortable. Letting people down gently was a new thing for her, but despite her newfound attitude, she still knew she couldn't date just anyone. Only the perfect guy would be enough for her.

Truthfully, she hadn't quite figured out her definition of the perfect guy yet.. but she was fairly sure that'd sort itself out once she found him.

"Hey Chloé?" Sabrina asked, pulling her away from her thoughts. She looked over to find Sabrina's gaze on the back of the classroom.

"Yes?"

She turned to face her. "Do you like anyone?"

Chloé blinked. "Why?"

"Well we never talk about this stuff! And I'm curious, because I maybe might kinda..."

Chloé's eyes widened. "What? Who? Tell me!"

"Well okay, but you first."

Chloé shrugged. "There's nothing to tell though. I just haven't met the right guy yet, I guess. Now tell me who you like!!!"

Sabrina smiled, directing dreamy eyes back over to the far right corner of the room. "Nathanael", she sighed, sounding practically lovesick.

Chloé raised an eyebrow, surprised and a little confused. "Really?"

“W-well, yeah! Is that so surprising?”

“Well I mean..” Chloé trailed off, not sure what to say, or even what she was thinking. There was nothing wrong with the guy, but he was pretty quiet. Coupled with Sabrina’s shyness they’d never make anything happen! They both needed more assertive partners to balance out their more passive, quiet personalities. But she wouldn’t be the one to crush Sabrina’s dreams by telling her that.

“I guess it’s just a surprise. You’ve never talked about him before. What is it you like about him?”

“Well.. Well there’s his eyes, they’re such a beautiful shade of blue. And he’s so talented! Have you seen some of his recent drawings? They’re amazing!” Sabrina gushed, stars in her eyes. Chloé forced herself not to frown. It was.. a little strange, she couldn’t lie. Sabrina and Nathanael were almost carbon copies of each other. Small, shy, pale, blue-eyed redheads. Chloé of all people knew that Sabrina didn’t exactly hold herself in the highest regard. So to see her so enamoured by someone that was essentially her in male form, well…

Chloé shrugged. Maybe it was a weird phase. Maybe she just thought he was cute, and hadn’t thought that far into their similarities. Chloé could admit he had an understated charm about him, with his bashful smile and eyes that were, in fact, pretty extraordinary. She couldn’t disagree with Sabrina there.

“Okay, so have you talked to your crush recently?”

“Wh-uh, what?” Sabrina sputtered. “No, I.. Well we-we don’t know each other all that well, so..” She scratched the back of her neck, not meeting Chloé’s eyes.

“And? All the more reason to talk to him!”

“Chloé! No, not yet! I’m only just coming to terms with the fact that this is a thing! I’ll talk to him soon, just.. not yet. Okay?”

“Okaaayyy.. Up to you.”

Chloé cast her eyes to Nathanael’s seat again, just as his roaming gaze found her. They locked eyes and both of them gasped, and he looked away quickly, a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

_Weird._

 

* * *

 

“I’m going to talk to him!” Sabrina announced the next week. Chloé looked up from the work she was trying to finish before the teacher arrived (-undoubtedly the wost part of superheroism and actually becoming a decent person was deciding you were actually going to do your own homework instead of lumping it on someone else, but then having little to no time to follow through on it due to spending most of your time in a spandex suit. She’d really have to have a chat with Hawkmoth about his attack schedule.) and found her looking, as usual, toward that one spot in the back of the room. She sighed, already getting slightly sick of hearing about this crush of hers but knowing she had to find enthusiasm for her friend.

“That’s great Sabrina! When?”

“Well, now, of course!” She chirped happily. Chloé’s eyes widened.

“Now? You’re very bold all of a sudden, considering a few days ago you freaked out at the prospect of saying two words to him.”

Sabrina merely shrugged in response, getting up and heading over to the back of the room. Chloé couldn’t see the exchange from Sabrina’s point of view, sadly, but she could see Nathanael’s reaction to the sudden company. He sat up straighter, mouth opening in surprise, until Sabrina leant closer to him and said something that made him turn bright red, and cast his timid eyes to the floor. Something about the way he looked in that moment, cheeks the colour of his hair and smile bashful, well.. it had an effect on Chloé. She hadn’t anticipated the way her stomach would flip at the sight, and sure as hell had no explanation as to why it had happened, but it had. It shocked the hell out of her, and she couldn’t help the gasp that left her lips.

“Yo Chloé!” Alix’s voice sounded from somewhere near her. “Everything alr…” Alix trailed off, and Chloé could only guess she’d followed her gaze and had a guess of some kind about what she was seeing. But Chloé’s gaze was locked.

“Sabrina playing wingman for you Chlo? I would’ve thought you’d have the guts to talk to Nath yourself.”

Chloé ripped her eyes away from the back of the classroom and looked at Alix, incredulous.

“Me?! What? Wh-where the hell did you get that idea from! No, I don-Alix, you’re ridiculous.” She lifted her chin as if to summon back the haughty airs she once had down to a science, but Alix didn’t seem fooled.

“If you say so…” she merely said in response, expression thoroughly amused.

Chloé huffed. “I don't know what you're thinking, but you're wrong about it.”

All Alix did was shrug, the mirth in her eyes never leaving.

_I don't like Nathanael. That's ridiculous._

 

* * *

 

“Did you hear about Nath’s latest painting?”

_Here we go again. It’s been two weeks; has she not run out of things to say about Nathanael yet?_

“No, I didn't. What is it?”

“He's doing a huge watercolour painting of all of Paris’ superheroes!”

That got Chloé’s attention.

“He's already started sketching and oh my goodness it looks so good, Chloé! Did you know Queen Bee is his favourite? I think he's got a bit of a celebrity crush on her!” Sabrina giggled.

Chloé just about choked.

“He uh, he does?”

“I mean, I think so! There are more sketches of her than anyone else, so..” she trailed off, a suggestive grin on her face. “He's got these metallic gold watercolours that he's using to put accents on different parts of each person and he's given her gold streaks in her hair and parts of her suit are gold too and it looks so amazing! You should see it!”

“I don't know if he'd want to show me…” she mumbled.

“What? Why not?”

“Well, I kind of tortured the guy that one time, I.. I don't know. Not everyone believes I've changed.” She wrapped her arms around her torso, feeling unusually small. “I wouldn't be surprised if he still didn't want to talk to me..”

“Oh Chloé, don't be silly! Nathanael doesn't hate you, he probably couldn't hate anyone!”

Chloé sighed. “I guess… But if he doesn't want to talk to me, I will say I told you so.”

“Yay!! Come on!” Sabrina took Chloé’s hand, pulling her along towards the back of the class where Nathanael sat, as usual, hunched over his sketchbook. Pencils, eraser shavings and paint-stained tissues littered his desk, and as Chloé took note of his insane collection of watercolours she found herself mesmerised in a way she’d never imagined art could make her. The metallics in particular enchanted her, but so did the deep indigos and russet reds and emerald greens he’d mixed up in his palette, and Chloé took it all in, amazed. So caught up was she that she didn’t even catch Nathanael’s reaction to their presence, and the thought made her all too aware that he could be unhappy about it, snapping her out of her daze.

“Chloé? What a-are.. You..”

Chloé cringed. He hadn’t exactly expressed disdain, and his expression only seemed surprised, but she couldn’t help but feel unwanted regardless.

“Sorry, uh, I just..”

“You don’t have to apologise!” He responded quickly. “I’m just surprised to see you.. At my desk.. That’s all.”

“Right, uh, well, Sabrina was telling me about-”

“Chloé, Sabrina, back to your seats,” Miss Bustier called as she entered the classroom. “You can chat all you like when class is over.”

Sabrina began shuffling back to her seat, and Chloé followed close behind after casting a reproachful look at Nathanael. And when the class ended and lunchtime came, and neither Sabrina or Nathanael attempted to continue their conversation, she held back from mentioning it, despite how much she wanted to.

Because she wouldn’t outright admit it, but she’d been really wanting to see what he’d been working on. Her thoughts had been on him all class, and although she’d _never_ have said so in the past, the possibility of Nathanael having a crush on her alter ego, well… She wasn’t an idiot. She knew how to read herself and decipher her own emotions. And she couldn’t ignore the fact that that lingering chance quickened her heart rate, warmed her cheeks and brought a small smile to her face every. single. time it came to mind.

_Oh shit. This wasn’t meant to happen._

Chloé was fairly sure she was developing some kind of.. something, for Nathanael Kurtzberg.

 

* * *

 

_This is a dumb idea. This is a really dumb idea._

Queen Bee flew over rooftop after rooftop, eyes peeled for Boulevard Saint-Michel, as she chastised herself for the fool’s errand she was on.

_He might not even be home. And even if he is, you haven’t even figured out what you’re going to say yet. He could ask you how you got his address or how you even know him, and then you’d be screwed! This is dumb. So dumb._

And yet, on she flew. Past the ornate buildings and overcrowded streets of Champ de Mars, away from the Trocadero and Eiffel Tower and toward more simple apartment buildings nestled above shopfronts, she flew.

It struck her as incredibly fitting, as she soared over the Luxembourg Gardens, that Nathanael would live around here. With beautiful landmarks and some of the most stunning of Paris’ jewels only a short distance away, and the Gardens practically next door, it was probably an artist’s dream to be here. Then again, Paris was so full of beautiful buildings almost every person on every street had something beautiful just outside their window. She wondered idly if he had a favourite place in Paris where he liked to go to sketch or to think. Before, she’d never really done “alone time”. She was alone fairly often, but that usually wasn’t a choice of hers, and she’d only ever spend that time in her room on her phone. She’d never taken much of an interest in the artistry of Paris, in exploring the landmarks she’d grown up around. But all the flying she’d been doing the past few months had given her a different perspective. She’d genuinely begun to cultivate a love for her city, that she’d never really had before, and a wanderlust for the museums and libraries and theatres she’d always considered normal before. Her beloved Paris was making something of an artist out of her, slowly but surely. And the fact that recently she’d found herself thinking more and more about a certain artist rather helped matters.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost missed the pharmacy said artist apparently lived right above, but the sight of the restaurant beside it she’d been looking out for brought her back to reality. She scanned the balcony windows of the building that was meant to be his, hoping for some kind of hint as to which room he belonged to that wouldn’t require her to get borderline creepy. Fortunately her job was made easy, as all but two had their shutters closed, and only one of those two had their windows open. From her vantage point she could easily make out a familiar red head of hair leaning over a desk, lit by clearly insufficient lamplight as he hunched over his work. She smiled fondly as the sight, before catching herself. _Get a grip Chloé, for goodness’ sake._

The soft buzz of her wings as she reached his balcony railing alerted him to her presence, and in the sudden shock of being caught and caught off guard, she did the only thing she could think to do. She sat, legs crossed, feigning nonchalance, on a centimeter-wide balcony railing. In fact, it was probably less than a centimeter. It was literally just a bar of iron. Not exactly the smartest or most secure place to chill.

Nathanael’s jaw dropped as he stood. “Chloé??”

He clapped his hands over his mouth instantly, but it was too late. That was the final nail in the coffin for Queen Bee. Shock sent her flailing, backwards off the balcony and swiftly down toward the busy Paris streets. _Mayday. Queen Bee going down. I repeat: Queen Bee going down._

At the last second, she managed to pull together all her momentum and adrenaline, using the current of her descent to push herself back up, her little wings struggling valiantly against the rushing wind. She flew back up and made sure to land, standing, on the _safe_ side of Nathanael’s balcony. She tried to stand confidently, but she was shaken; there was no doubt about that.

“H-how?” she squeaked.

“I'm sorry!” He blurted. “T-to be honest, it wasn't that hard to figure out”, he cringed. “Uh, come in!”

She followed him into his room, immediately marveling at how very _him_ it seemed. It was simple, mostly, a little messy (but that was to be expected), and the majority of it was either white or black, but one wall was absolutely full of his artworks and sketches that had been haphazardly taped up, pieces of various shapes and sizes filling every gap. And the ceiling left her breathless. A huge tapestry-style sheet had been hung from corner to corner and painted to replicate the famous Starry Night painting she’d seen in the Louvre a hundred times. She could never remember who it was by.. Vincent… something?

Nathanael followed her gaze up to the ceiling. “I know it’s pretty cliche, and probably Vincent Van Gogh’s most copied piece, but..” _Van Gogh! That was his name!!_ “Well, I like to pretend I’m sleeping under the stars. And glow in the dark star stickers weren’t going to cut it. So,” he gestured upward, “three solid days of painting over the summer holidays last year, and that was the result.”

“It’s beautiful”, she breathed, in awe. The softest of gasps from Nathanael turned her head in his direction, and despite the pink glow of the sunset playing tricks on her as it fell over his face, she knew he was blushing. Her heart lurched. _Woah._

“Th-thanks,” he stuttered. “Um, so, no offense but.. why are you here? Like, you’ve never.. I don’t know. I’m confused.”

“Well, Sabrina told me you were doing a painting of Paris’ heroes and.. I’m actually kind of glad you know who I am so I don’t have to make up some big story about it.. I really wanted to see it. Nobody’s ever drawn or painted me, so..”

“Well,” he said, gesturing for her to follow him as he headed back over to his desk, “that’s not the case anymore.”

His desk at home looked much like it had at school- messy, yet beautiful. It looked like he’d been in the middle of doing hers and Ladybug’s eyes; various shades of blue ranging from palest to deepest indigo filled different compartments of his palettes, each with brushes of various sizes left beside them. Chloé leaned forward until she was a mere few centimeters away from the piece, her own eyes staring back at her. She’d known Nathanael was an incredible artist but this.. This blew her away, the same way his Starry Night had. The piece was quite large, which allowed for detail even in areas like the eyes, and he’d clearly used that to his advantage. The attention to detail was insane! Her eyes were mostly a bright blue, which he’d captured perfectly, but the insides were paler, and the outer rims of her irises were much darker, bordering on navy, and he’d completely replicated that too, down to the bleeding lines where bright met dark. He’d even accented the highlights with touches of silver! And as Sabrina had mentioned, there were more metallic hints all over the piece. Chat Noir’s bell was completely filled in with gold, and his hair was accented with it, Ladybug’s jet black pigtails shone silvery-blue, as did her eyes, and the auburn of Renard Rouge’s hair was lined with copper. Chloé was amazed.

“Nathanael, this is incredible!”

“It’s uh, it’s not finished yet”, he responded sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

“Just take the compliment, Nathanael. I don’t dish them out often.”

Nathanael chuckled. “Thank you. I haven’t done the suits or the skin or anything yet, but they’ll have metallic accents too; like, copper on Renard’s suit and silver highlights on Chat’s, and maaayybe I’ll do copper on Ladybug’s suit too but I’m not sold on the idea yet. I feel like true red and copper are just too far from each other to harmonise well together and.. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. Sorry, I get rambly when I have a problem to work through.”

Chloé laughed. “It’s fine. Could you.. mix some copper in with your reds and make a metallic red?”

Nathanael smiled. “Yeah, I could, and I’ve been considering it. I wanted to limit myself to just those metal colours, but I did end up mixing silver with blue for a few details already, so why not take it further? And I could even maybe get an interesting metallic green for Chat’s eyes with some gold, silver and some blues and greens! Yeah, I’m going to do it.” He smiled again, this time down at her. “I don’t know if you’re an artist yourself, although I suspect that if you were we’d know about it, but you certainly think like one.”

“Me? Really? I mean, I can't say I've really given it much of a go but I’ve never imagined myself to be an artist.”

“Maybe it's something you'll discover you're a natural at!”

Chloé laughed. “I suppose we’ll see..”

The pair continued to talk for several hours, eventually settling into a comfortable silence as he worked on his piece and she simply watched. He admitted to her that it tended to make him feel self conscious to have people watch him work over his shoulder, so she’d chosen to engage him in conversation and act as though she weren’t really paying attention, until he eased into the feeling of her constant presence. She had no idea how relaxing it could be to simply coexist with someone, not having to fill the space with words or be “interesting” in order to enjoy someone’s company, or to have them enjoy yours. (Not that she knew for sure whether or not he was enjoying this at all, but she could hope.) But here, as they sat with no sound filling the space other than the soft music Nathanael had had playing since before her sudden appearance, Chloé found she didn’t want to leave.

 

* * *

 

Over the next few weeks, Queen Bee’s visits to a certain window became increasingly frequent. She came with the excuse of wanting to see the progress on his painting ready in her head every time, in case he questioned her ever-growing presence in his life, but he never asked. She felt as though the pair of them were both at a loss as to what exactly they were, and how they’d even reached the point they were at, but at the prospect of trying to have that conversation with him, a fear she’d never known before gripped Chloé’s heart and closed her mouth tight. So it remained unspoken, and the pair treaded lightly. Most of the time, anyway.

There was one time, though, where she laid her head on his shoulder, as they sat on the floor at the foot of his bed, nothing to accompany them other than the sounds of crickets chirping. Outwardly she appeared at ease, as though she was simply tired and unaware of the gravity of her actions, but inside she was trembling, at war with herself. _How can you even begin to think this is okay right now? Disregarding, momentarily, the fact that your best friend has a crush on this guy, you two have literally only just gotten know each other and that’s entirely because you were a jerk to him for the longest time! He’s probably so confused and uncomfortable right now. How would you, or literally anyone, feel if someone who for years had been horrible to them decided one_ _day off the bat to cling to them and make such sudden advances? Find some chill,_ **_please_ ** _._

But in a way she couldn’t help it. The past few weeks had felt like an eternity in the progress of.. whatever it was they might be able to be. A part of her- the brave part, that had always won in her life before- wanted to either tell him how she felt or kiss him senseless without warning, but this felt like something she needed to be patient with. Master Fu had been reminding her a fair bit recently of the importance of patience. Usually those words of advice would be followed by a vague, cryptic proverb and a crinkly-eyed smile, that did nothing to actually help her understand what he was saying, but made her feel understood regardless. She’d often come to remember those strange and confusing quotes in times like this, when all she wanted to do was tell Nathanael she couldn’t believe she’d spent so much time not knowing what a fascinating person he was, and that she wanted nothing more than to be with him.

“Hey Chlo, can I ask you something?” He asked, bringing her focus back to the present and bringing a fond smile to her face. The nickname, though not an uncommon one for people to use on her, always made her feel a little starry-eyed when it came from him.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

He looked down at her, seeming conflicted. “I don’t know how to put it exactly. I guess, I’m wondering..” He scrunched his brows together, trying to find the words, and suddenly Chloé realised where the question was headed.

“You want to know my story”, she supplied.

“Yeah, pretty much. Like, how you came to be the person you were before, and how that person became a superhero and changed her ways and everything. If-if you don’t mind telling me, of course.”

Chloé smiled. “I don’t mind at all.”

“So, it all started when I was eight. Well, properly started, I guess. I guess I was probably always a little spoilt, but it wasn’t so bad when my mother was around. My dad was always the more affectionate one; never afraid or ashamed to tell me and show me that he loved me and cared for me. My mom was a little more distant. She was more the type to cancel plans and then make up for it with expensive gifts, or spontaneously plan shopping trips for the two of us, yet never really show me any affection. I don’t know if she didn’t know how to show me she loved me, or if she just didn’t really love me.

Anyway, she left when I was 8. My father never properly told me why, but based on her behaviour I managed to eventually fill in the gaps in his story and assume she just didn’t want the hand she’d been dealt. I don’t know why her leaving caused my dad to adopt her tactics, but he did. Either he resented me for perhaps driving her away, or he didn’t know how to be a single parent and a mayor at the same so he just tried to make things work.. I don’t know. But I’d spent enough time breathing the same air as lonely rich kids, that I began to adopt those airs as my own. We all- well, all except Adrien- sort of practiced this routine of pretending our possessions were enough to make us happy, so nobody would know we were the emptiest of people on the inside.

But enough of that sob story; you can gather that that’s what made me the stuck up jerk I used to be. It was actually Adrien that inspired the change, though. I’m not proud to admit this, but he ended up confessing to me that he had feelings for Marinette and I threw a total tantrum, like a child. I’d been jealous of her effortless charm for years, and the way she seemed to have her entire life together and never hurt anyone or did anything wrong. He, basically, got sick of my jealous ranting and set me straight. He told me that every part of her reputation, everything I envied about her (other than her happy family), she had because of her own choices. The way she chose to treat people earned her the life she had, and the same went for me. The thought kind of stuck in my mind, and I resolved to try and be better, and see where it got me. And one day I helped a man I believed to be a mere civilian, and the next day I had a miraculous and I was meeting him as a brand new superhero.”

Nathanael exhaled, eyes wide. “Wow.”

Chloé chuckled ruefully. “Pretty heavy stuff, huh?”

“I guess what strikes me about it all is the fact that so much of what authority figures tell you when you’re young is true. You know how people always say that unkind people are the way they are because they’re hurting as well? It’s a thought that people don’t like to consider, but it’s totally true. I’m sorry about your mom, Chloé. And I’m glad you’ve made something good of the life you’ve been given. Really glad.”

She smiled. “Thank you. And, in case I haven’t said it before, I’m.. really sorry about who I used to be, and what I put you through. It still makes me feel ashamed every time I think of it.”

Nathanael laughed. “Oh, please, that’s water under the bridge. I think, all things considered, you didn’t exactly torture me all that much. And I kind of forgave it all as soon as I realised you were making an effort to make things right with the people you hurt. Seeing you apologise to Marinette a few weeks ago, in front of the entire class… wow. I’m proud of you, Chloé.”

Chloé beamed, her heart full as she rested her head on his shoulder again. He was the only person she’d told that whole story to (Sabrina had heard about her past, but nothing about her redemption or her superhero side job), and all he’d given in response was empathy and encouragement. No judgement, no half-assed pity, no built up resentment. He cared about the hurt she’d faced in the past, but happily acknowledged and complimented her on the choices of her present.

_How, again, had I never noticed this guy?_

Eventually, when the pair realised they were straining their eyes even under lamplight, Chloé decided she’d better head home. She called on her transformation, Nathanael’s eyes wide, despite having seen it several times by this point, as he watched streams of yellow and gold whirl around her, replacing her usual ensemble with the infamous striped suit. Her ponytail rose to the occasion, as always, curls forming at the ends in Queen Bee’s trademark style, and Nathanael’s fascinated gaze caught the change.

“You should wear your hair like that when you’re not transformed. It’s so pretty..”

Chloé felt her face heat up. “I-I’ve been trying not to be too obvious, although apparently it’s not working too well. But I think coming to school with the exact same hairstyle would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. Like, if people haven’t put the pieces together yet that’ll absolutely do it. You know?”

He hummed, eyes still on her hair and one hand reaching out to fiddle with it. “You could wear it down? Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down. You probably look really nice..”

It was as if Chloé had been in a daze until that moment. She, as Nathanael seemed to be, was so caught up in the moment that she hadn’t stopped to question what was even happening. But at that, she couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped her mouth, though she tried. He’d been speaking absentmindedly, distracted, and the gasp was all it took for him to come back to reality and realise what he’d said. Instantly, his cheeks were aflame.

“I-I mean, uh, uummmm…”

It was too much. It was just too much for her to handle. All her repressed shock, self consciousness and admiration manifested in a too-high, not-at-all-nonchalant giggle, that was by no means attractive but, thankfully, broke the tension. “Thank you, Nathanael.”

He smiled in return, scratching the back of his neck and ducking his head. It was a wonder that she’d never fully noticed them before, but in contrast to his currently-pink cheeks and red hair, suddenly the beauty of his eyes struck her. Under the scrutiny of his tourmaline gaze, a part of her felt completely exposed, whilst the other part remained in the dreamlike daze she’d been in all night. She was vaguely aware that something was pulling her closer to him- presumably, the same driving force that drew him closer to her, but as soon as a part of her brain registered it the trance was broken. She pulled back just as his head began to dip, her mind going into overload. _????????????!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!!??!??!??!??_

“Um,” she attempted, breathy, “uh, I’ll.. see you at school tomorrow?”

“Uh, y-yeah”, he responded, equally as softly. “Tom-morrow.”

She turned before her treacherous body could betray her and do what she so wanted to do, and jumped straight out of his window, letting the wind and her wings take her to the nearest surface, which happened to be a rooftop right across the road. Upon landing, she turned toward his window immediately, face hot as she gazed across the way. He looked much the same as she was sure she did; confused, shocked, amazed and very red.

_Oh. My. Gosh._

She was completely and utterly screwed, and in far too deep to get out.

 

* * *

 

She wore her hair down the next day. She kept it straight-ish, surprised to find she rather liked the look, but resolved to go all out with it the day she took the plunge. (If that ever happened.) It sat on her shoulders in exactly the way she hoped it would, fringe curling ever so slightly away from her face, framing it perfectly. She felt as though she’d never looked better, and the compliments she received from classmates reinforced that, but her outward appearance told nothing of the inner turmoil she was going through. After the night before, things were different. She couldn’t deny that. Sharing something so personal, in all its detail, with Nathanael, not to mention almost kissing him.. Well, one could say the feelings she’d had before, which were enough to shock her a few weeks ago, now paled in comparison to the rollercoaster of emotion she found herself on now. She’d gone from having the kind of crush that simply said “I’d like to get to know you better”, to barely being able to think about anything other than Nathanael, almost without even realising the change was occurring. She’d even asked Adrien for advice the night before! But he hadn’t exactly been able to offer much other than telling her to be honest with Sabrina. Which she thoroughly deserved; that was something Chloé was thoroughly aware of. But every time she thought about telling her, about how hurt she’d be, about how much she’d already abused their friendship in the past and about how lucky she was to have had her stick around.. Well, she just couldn’t do that to her best friend. So she didn’t tell her.

Unfortunately, keeping a secret of this kind of secret also meant hoping Nathanael wouldn’t blow her cover, by mentioning something that had happened or treating her with the level of familiarity he’d been able to at his house. And the prospect of telling him her best friend had a crush on him, without the freedom to confess she had feelings for him too, came with responses she had no idea how to predict, and she couldn’t do that.

So, essentially, she bottled everything up. Which, of course, is not the smart or healthy option, and actually killed her, but what else could she do? There was too much at stake! So, when Nathanael complimented her on her hair she tried (oh, did she try) to brush it off kindly, in some feeble attempt to not spoil any secrets or hurt anyone’s feelings. She was pretty sure it didn’t work though.

She’d noticed, out of the corner of her eye, as Nathanael slumped, dejected, and made his way over to the back of the room. She’d also noticed as Sabrina said hello to him and didn’t get a response. And it all ate at her to such an intense degree, that by the end of the day Sabrina was demanding to know what was up with her.

“Okay, you have to tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been moping and looking guilty _all day_ , and you kept looking at Nathanael, who also looked miserable. What the heck happened?”

That was it. That was the tipping point. “Please don’t hate me!” she blurted.

Sabrina’s brows furrowed in confusion. “For… what?”

Chloé took a deep breath. “Okay I’m gonna tell you everything but please just let me tell you the full story before you decide you never want to be my friend again!”

Sabrina’s mouth twitched in what looked like a held-back smile, which confused Chloé to no end, but she simply nodded. “Sure.”

“Okay, so…. I may or may not have hung out with and gotten close to and developed a major crush on Nathanael and _I knoooooow what an awful friend that makes me and I’m sorry_ and I hate that I’m asking you for advice on how to handle a crush on a guy you like too but I need your help oh my gosh Sabrina I like him SO MUCH but last night we hung out and I realised just how much I actually like him but you liked him first so I wanted to distance myself so you didn’t get hurt because I was pursuing someone you liked but now I think I might’ve hurt him too because he probably thinks I went back to my old ways and started brushing him off because I didn’t want people to know we were getting closer and I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!”

A beat of silence passed, and then Sabrina laughed. Chloé watched, confused, as Sabrina all but howled with laughter, doubling over and even wiping away a few tears.

“Thank GOD! I thought I was going to have to keep pretending for another eternity!”

“P-Pretend..ing?”

“I knew Nathanael had a huge crush on you and I knew he was the perfect guy for you but I knew you’d never see him for who he was unless you got close to him and had him brought to your attention! And to be honest I think I deserve an award of some kind for my acting skills and this apparently impeccable plan, because now you’re head over heels!”

“This.. was your plan all along?”

“Yep! I never had a crush on Nath. We’re too similar! As great as I am, I don’t really want to be dating someone that’s like a mirror image of me!”

“I can’t believe I even picked up on that myself, and yet never imagined you could be pretending. I feel so stupid right now. And a part of me wants to be angry, but…” Then Chloé was reminded of one incredibly important detail. “Wait. He.. he said he likes me?”

“Are you kidding? The guy’s been smitten for months now! He told me that it started as this desire to figure you out, when you started to change, and then it evolved to just being interested in knowing you as a whole, and then Queen Bee came on the scene and he was a goner, especially because he’d been able to figure out you were her from your very first battle.”

“Wait, **_you know too?!_ ** ”

“I.. had a theory about it. When I approached him because I saw him making eyes at you all the time, it came up in conversation and he said he thought so too, and the more we paid attention the more obvious it became. So,” she shrugged. “Here we are.”

“So what you’re telling me in all this is, I made a problem out of nothing because you were determined to get me to notice the amazing guy that had already noticed me… But because I fell for your act I ended up hurting him and creating yet another problem?”

Sabrina shrugged. “Pretty much. But this problem is easily fixable! Just come to school tomorrow determined to sweep him off his feet, and once you’ve made your feelings for him abundantly clear, then you can do all the explaining you like.”

Chloé considered Sabrina’s advice. It was a very Chloé Bourgeois approach. “Yeah, okay. Yeah. I’ll do that.”

In a display of impeccable timing, her driver appeared to take her home from school. The pair stood and she hugged Sabrina tight. “I’m pretty sure a part of me should still be mad at you for manipulating me, but I seem to be fresh out of resentment.”

Sabrina laughed. “Good. You know I did it all for your own good. Now, you better send me outfit photos for tomorrow! You’ve gotta blow Nath away.”

“Oh believe me, I will!”

 

* * *

 

And blow him away she did. She arrived at school early the next morning, clad in a fabulous all-black ensemble, hair that fell in seemingly effortless waves (that had actually taken her forever), the best winged eyeliner she’d ever achieved and all her Queen Bee courage. All eyes were on her as she commanded attention in a way she never had before, drawing people to her simply by oozing confidence, rather than pretending to exude it and using her words and put-on airs to place a focus on herself. She channeled all the grace and confidence of her alter ego as her hips swayed and her heels announced her presence on the timber floorboards. Nathanael’s jaw dropped as she approached, eyes on nothing but him, and his eyes widened as she grabbed him by the collar. The entire class was silent; not that she really would’ve noticed. All either of them could see was each other as she pulled him to her and kissed him. It probably wasn’t the most graceful or romantic kiss, but Chloé didn’t care so much, as long as he got the picture. Her arms wound around his neck of their own accord, one hand cradling his jaw, and after a moment of frozen shock, she could feel the exact moment Nathanael chose to lose himself in the kiss, his own arms wrapping around her waist. Her stomach did somersaults.

“Hi,” she said, when she finally pulled away, a little breathless. “I really like you.”

The whole class waited, enthralled and on tenterhooks, all hoping for a positive outcome and all far more invested than they ever imagined they’d be in Chloé’s love life, particularly considering few of them even knew there was anything between the pair before that moment. Everyone was on edge as they waited for Nathanael to speak.

“Hi,” he responded, finally. “I _really_ like you, too.”

The stunned silence was broken. The whole class clapped and cheered, and the pair seemed suddenly and finally aware of their audience, both their cheeks reddening.

“You know,” he whispered, forehead resting against hers. “You could say you’ve.. _beewitched_ me.”

Chloé’s head fell into her hands. “Please, if you ever want to be kissed again, no puns!”

He chuckled. “That’s a deal I’ll happily take.” And he kissed her again.

**Author's Note:**

> me: has mixed feelings about chlobee, has never really been sure if there's any reason chlothanael could work, is pretty neutral about nathanael  
> me after writing this story: CHLOBEE IS THE MOST WONDERFUL THING TO HAPPEN TO THE MIRACULOUS UNIVERSE AND CHLOTHANAEL NEEDS TO HAPPEN  
> ...  
> also I feel the need to mention, whether anyone's interested or not, that chloe's outfit at the end is freaking bomb okay she's got an off shoulder top tucked into high waisted skinny jeans and pointed toe boots and her curls are like the 20s/30s retro finger waves that SO MANY background characters in ML have that I love. (Zag pls consult someone who knows what fashion is when you do your character designs PLEASE)
> 
> hope you enjoyed this fluff hurricane! I wanted to write something quick and fun (I say quick but it took like a week or two and ended up being 12 pages long.......) bc I've got a multi-chapter fic in the works that I can't post yet. so here's a little something to tide people over until I can publish that!  
> if you want to, you can find me on tumblr at tomorrowisnew.tumblr.com OR ladybeep.tumblr.com!


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